Bao Nian Jie
by The Coyote
Summary: Sequel to Feng Jie the Wind Spirit. Love can only hold up to so many barriers. While Zuko doesn't remember her and their love, Jie must help Aang become a true Airbending Master. Set before season 3 finale. Complete Summary Inside
1. The Realization

**Title: **Bao Nian Jie (Remember Jie)

**Setting: **Beginning starts post-Day of Black Sun, pre-FBM. Most of the story will take place post-FBM. In other words, yes, this is mid season 3. If I finish this story, the third (I'm hoping for this to be a trilogy), will be set after the war.

**Formal Summary: **After Zuko and Iroh lose their memory in the desert and get sent to Ba Sing Sei via spirit magic, Feng Jie, a wind spirit that accompanied them on their desert travels searches for Zuko, for she realizes that she loves the Fire Prince. However, once she discovers that she and the Avatar are the only airbenders left, she is filled with rage over what the Fire Nation has done and seeks Zuko out not only out of love, but of revenge. Will she be an ally of Zuko and the Avatar as they attempt to complete Aang's training, or will she become lost in her grief when Zuko can't remember her at all?

**Blunt Summary: **Feng Jie and Zuko developed a relationship previously, and Zuko lost his memory. Feng Jie tries to make him remember, while helping the Avatar to complete his airbending training.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of it's characters. I do own Feng Jie/Jie, and I reserve the right to be selfish and hog her to myself. :3 Though I don't think I would do that.

**Rating: **Rated K+ now for smooching and other "adult" situations and mild cursing.

**A/N: **This is the sequel to Feng Jie the Wind Spirit, and above is a horrible summary. I will probably change it. I love my character Feng Jie very much, and I'm very excited to write a sequel to her desert adventure. Yes, this is a ZukoxOC fic. Maybe a wee bit of Zutara, just to make my dear Jie angry. Please, please, PLEASE read Feng Jie the Wind Spirit first before reading this. It's a short story, so you won't have much trouble finishing it. And please, if you do happen to read it, leave one final review on the last chapter, so I can get a general idea on how many people like this fic. I plan on making this a longer story, but I would like some praise... uh, constructive criticism first. :)

It was irresistibly sunny out on this particular summer's day, with but one lazy cloud in the sky, and a fine breeze tousling the hair of young Yan. Yan was nothing more than a farmer's son, and he was in the fields again today. With Father trying to make a living selling his cabbages in Ba Sing Sei, he was the only one able to work the land, and the plants suffered from it. While the summer sun felt good across his bare back, it parched the poor cabbages.

"Best head to the water," Yan mumbled to himself, standing up straight after breaking the earth to plant more seeds. He picked up a bucket that lay on the grass and lazed over to the watering hole, as he called it. Here in the Earth Kingdom, numerous amounts of animals roamed the fields and plains. He once even saw a Rabaroo, with her little babies poking out of her sack. It was one of the few places left to the area that the fire nation army hadn't scorched. And it was also the only place to retrieve water for his cabbages.

The grass was really tall, and Yan pushed through it. The pool was just as beautiful as ever, with cool blue water sparkling in the sun. Except ripples echoed from one corner, on the other side. Yan squinted against the sunlight, but he couldn't see what creature was sharing his water. Maybe it was a lone platypus bear, judging by the size of the ripples.

Yan was careful to creep forward silently, so as not to scare the beast away. He heard the creature dip its mouth into the water and lap at it eagerly, snuffling with greed. Yan paused here, because the creature sounded very large. Maybe it was dangerous. With one hand around the bucket's handle, he rested the other on his small knife.

The sun was still in his eyes, but he could swear he had to be less than ten feet from the creature. Why didn't it hear him? Most creatures had an excellent sense of hearing. It was at this precise moment that the one cloud in the sky blocked out the sun, and Yan could see what was drinking from the watering hole. And he gasped.

It was magnificent. Was it… a dragon? Weren't they extinct? She -- he felt that it was a she – was leaner than the dragons in story books, with a wolfish muzzle and two long, black, sharp horns gracing her head. A golden mane started above her green eyes and brushed the spine of her long, snaky back, down to her tail. And that tail graced itself with sharp, deadly prongs. That same tail lashed against the ground in what appeared to be shock and anger. The blue, swirling markings that covered her whole white, scaly body seemed to dance as her body rippled into life.

Oh no. Jie, the wind spirit/human, was surprised that this farmer's boy had snuck up on her. She had been so thirsty, and in her rush to drink from the cool pond, she hadn't even bothered to become human once more. The boy seemed just as surprised as she did. She turned her head and thrashed her tail, and a guttural growl pushed past her tongue. This only frightened the boy more, and he tripped over himself trying to back away from her. She felt herself chuckle, and in her glee of stirring such fright in someone, she roared and pranced about. Her tongue lolled about on her lips, and she truly felt comical. But the boy was still scared silly. She paused, and issuing one more snarl, she leaped into the air, and the winds carried her body away, into the glorious sky. The grass surrounding the pool rippled and rustled at her departure, and she felt a guilty glee in frightening the boy.

Yan himself trembled under the sight of the dragon creature. She was a spirit, he was sure. But such ferocity, and she looked so… well, earthly! She was not in any way ghostly, but as solid as the ground. The teeth that flashed in her mouth frightened him the most, and the roar shook his bones. He would never forget the day that he met a spirit and she graced him with her presence. Later in his life, he would build a small shrine by the water pool and burn incense and feel the soft breeze in his hair and remember the wind spirit that graced the land with soft weather.

Jie, however, did not really intend to grace a farmer's boy with anything, but moved on through the Earth Nation, on her way to the Eastern Air Temple. Her search for Zuko was on a brief pause as she pursued her own tribe. In the desert, when the king spirit Bi Shen had interrupted their agonizingly short amount of time in love, Zuko lost all of his memory of her, and was sent to Ba Sing Sei by spirit magic. While at first Jie had searched almost blindly in agony and love, she now knew that finding this prince would be so much harder.

What worried her most was the whisperings she heard throughout her travels about the airbending people being gone. She didn't really believe it, however. How could a whole nation be extinct? It was impossible. And what were the whisperings about the avatar having disappeared, reappeared, and died? Had the whole world gone mad?

Jie elevated her long body higher into the sky, the wind roaring around her pointed ears and caressing her mane. It was a feeling of ultimate freedom, to be flying in this form. Her legs were tucked in around her body, and unlike a dragon, she had no wings and used her airbending to move through the sky like a snake through the grass. This feeling was almost so good as to make her want to stay in her spirit form for the rest of her life. As a wind spirit, she was Feng Jie: Controller of the winds, and freer than the falcons that crisscrossed the sky! She decided where to go and how to do it and when. She was her own master!

But at the same time, she longed to have soft, human skin that glowed in the dusk, and the emotions and senses that created love and hate and happiness. As a human, as Jie, she had Zuko. At least, she did. Now he wouldn't even know her name. If he saw her now, as a wind spirit, she would look like a monster to him. How could she live as Feng Jie when someone she loved, the only person she felt an emotional tie to, thought she was repulsive? High in the air Jie sneezed in agitation. What was she, human or an ethereal spirit? Could she really hold the title of just being Jie, or would she forever be a wind-carried beast?

Jie managed to draw herself out of her own thoughts to notice that the landscape was looking vaguely familiar. The mountains cut the sky into patterns that touched memories, and even the air had a certain scent to it. She was almost at the Eastern Air Temple. She would see some airbenders again! Jie barked in excitement and her body twisted with joy. It would be so good to be with people like her again! For all the years she had lived in her cave in the desert, banished from both the human and spirit worlds, she always drew upon her memories of playing along the walls of the temples.

Jie looked down, and recognized the landscape even more. There was a patch of bare land by a pile of stones in an odd formation. A tree used to be there. That same tree that she had tested her spirit strength on, about two hundred years ago…

There! Oh, she could see the first temple's pointed roof! It was glorious in the afternoon sun!

The Eastern Air Temple mush resembled the Northern and Southern Air Temples, but it was on a much lower elevation. Of them all, the Eastern Air Temple was most prized for its artwork and architecture. While it wasn't upside-down, the detail that went into each building was exquisite.

Jie hurried her pace and whisked through the air. Everything still looked the same. There was the temple in which she and her father had lived. Oh, if only he was still alive, so she could show that sorry man what his only daughter had become.

Jie stretched out her clawed feet and landed gracefully on one of the balconies of the temple. Her claws clicked against the marble, and she found that it was all covered with a film of dirt.

She stretched her limbs, still feeling a rush from flying. She shook her golden mane and shook her body so as to make the golden hair shiver across her spine as well. It was only then did she notice the silence.

Jie stood still, not even daring to breath as her inhuman ears perked and searched for a sound. Any sound. Music, laughter, even a sneeze would be acceptable.

But there was nothing.

Not even a bird sang in one of the trees. It was eerily quiet.

Jie shook her head and yelled "Hello!" as loud as she could, but it came out as a roar. She had forgotten she could not form words as this new spirit form. Before Bi Shen, the Spirit King, had appeared and released her from her banishment, she had taken the form of a miniature version of her current form, one that could shape human vowels. But now nothing came out except a monstrous roar.

Jie closed her eyes and willed herself to change back into a human. It was becoming harder and harder every time to think of human pleasures such as tasting fruit or feeling the warmth of Zuko's breath against her—

It was becoming harder to do, but eventually, after much coaxing, she managed to make her body shift and pop. Her snaky body shrunk and her legs grew longer and her horns disappeared. Her muzzle shortened into a human nose, and eventually she was human again, on all fours. Jie rose to her feet and stretched her fingers. She was lucky that her clothing always melded with her spirit form. She didn't have to worry about ending up naked. Instead, her simple white dress just remained with her always.

"Hello?" she called once more, glad to hear words form again. Her voice was strong against the silence, but it echoed against the dead walls in solitude. She called once more, but a tearing feeling in her heart cut it off. Jie sank to her knees, letting her hair cover her eyes as grief washed over her.

"How c-could it happen?" she moaned, pressing her fingertips against the cold stone floor, as if seeking life within the rock. With a snarl that didn't sound very human, she rose to her bare feet and rushed into the inner halls of the temple. Surely they couldn't all be gone! Small rooms and windows blurred past her as Jie padded through the hallways in a dazed frenzy, urgent to find any sign of life in what used to be her home. Rooms and statues she recognized were covered in moss and dust, a thin coating of age covering everything. Jie rushed through each hall, leaping from one balcony to another to search each building. Even the children's playground was empty, with weeds covering the game field.

Jie let a sob tear from her lips as she sank to the ground once more, tears stinging her cheeks. Could the Fire Nation really have done all of this? And worse, were the other temples like this? Jie rose to feet after a few minutes of heartbreaking tears, vowing to see her old room once more before she left for the other temples.

She let the air carry her through a long jump from one building to another, landing on one temple that was a sort of apartment building. Many families used to share the one building. She and her father had the ground floor.

When she entered the building, the silence only seemed to get louder. She could hear the dull slap of her bare feet hitting the floor echo against the walls. The place was spooky, even. She stopped before a doorway that led into her room. In that room she had been treated like a prisoner by her father, prayed to the spirits for help, and was transformed into a wind spirit. She could only wonder if they had fixed the wall, from when she had broken out.

There was a light coming from underneath the door.

Jie gasped and took a step, staring the glow of a fire that seeped out from inside. Could it be that an airbender was here? She moved to open the stone door, when it exploded into chunks of stone.

Jie was fast, and leaped away from the door before boulders of marble could smash her skull. She leaped into the air and pulled herself into a corner in the ceiling, clinging to vines that had grown through the stone.

Out of the dust emerged a massive man, definitely of the Earth Kingdom, because of his green clothes. He searched the hallways for her, looking this way and that. He was extremely muscular, like many earthbenders, and his dark hair was long and tied up upon his head. He growled, clenching and unclenching his fists, for he didn't find his prey. Jie was glad to see him start going back into her room, when she felt the horrible urge to sneeze. _Hold it…_she urged herself, lifting her chin in an urge to curb the sneeze.

No such luck. "Cheeyoo!!" Jie spluttered, and the man turned around just as she dropped to the ground. He stomped and moved his hands, and rock pelted itself against the exact spot where Jie had been hiding before. She got ready to run when the man stopped his attack.

"Wait! You are not of the Fire Nation army!" he blurted, dropping his hands in a gesture of peace. Jie snarled, untrusting, but paused where she stood, fingers arched in hooked claws.

"Please, The Boulder means you no harm!" the strange man exclaimed, then bowed apologetically. Jie stood up straight from her crouched, animal-like stance, relaxing slightly.

"What are you doing in the Eastern Air Temple?" she asked quietly, staring up at the giant of a man.

"Hiding, The Boulder is hiding," he mumbled, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, "from the Fire Nation."

Jie gasped and took a step forward.

"Why? What have you done?" A better question would have been why on earth he called himself "The Boulder".

"I was fighting the Fire Nation on The Day of Black Sun… we failed. I was the only one to escape imprisonment by hiding myself inside the earth. The others weren't so lucky…"

The man, though he had seemed strong and confident at first, obviously was shaken by the events he was talking about. Jie took one step closer, feeling more relaxed around the poor man.

Please, uh, Boulder, tell me what happened… what happened to the airbenders?" she pleaded. The man just looked surprised at the question. He snorted.

"Kid, the airbenders have been gone for about one hundred years now!" he paused long enough to gauge Jie's torn expression. "Only the Avatar remains. Hey uh, why is your hair that color?"

Jie shook her head to clear the despairing thoughts that swam through her mind, but only long enough to answer his question.

"I, uh… I spent way too much time out in the sun when I was young," she quickly lied. While the Boulder seemed nice enough, she didn't trust him to believe her when she said that she had been transformed into a wind spirit by the king of all spirits, and her hair, which used to be very dark, was now her constant reminder of what she was.

The Boulder believed her sad lie. He probably wasn't very bright.

"The Avatar is alive, though?" she asked, keeping the subject away from her hair. "I had heard he was dead…"

The Boulder smiled at the thought, obviously very proud of the Avatar.

"Yes, and in hiding too, I think." Jie looked up at what he said. Where could she find the Avatar, if he was hiding? If a whole nation couldn't find him, how could she?

"You know where?" she asked, turning away from the man curtly. First, all of her kind was gone. Now, the only remaining one besides herself was hiding.

The Boulder thought for a moment, and then shook his head.

"I'm sorry, girl. No."

Jie hissed in displeasure, thinking hard. If she were the Avatar, where would she hide? Almost immediately she gave up. She didn't even know what he looked like. The old codger was probably holing up somewhere in the Earth Kingdom.

When Jie didn't respond, The Boulder leaned against the wall and pressed his forehead into his hands. He never was much for wisdom or deep thinking, but now it all weighed heavily on his mind.

"The Firelord really has us, now, girl. I think he's won…" Jie looked up, staring at the man, with confusion staining her face. How could the world have fallen apart like this? Oh, right… the Avatar disappeared.

"My name is Jie," she said tentatively after a bit of silence. If the man was not going to kill her anymore, she could at least be friendly.

The man stood straighter and smiled broadly, filled with a light of past glories.

"I am The Boulder! I was a pro-fighter back in the earth kingdom… before Ba Sing Sei and all the Earth Kingdom was taken over..." His light died then, and he slumped to the ground.

"I'll never see Ba Sing Sei again…" muttered, running a massive hand through his hair, which had strands falling out of its tail.

Jie sat beside him, and let a small hand rest on his arm.

"I will never see my family again either," she said, attempting to comfort him. She had never been good at it, though.

There was another long pause, in which two lost souls sought comfort in the presence of another human being.

"You can stay here with me, for the night, friend Jie. I will protect you."

Jie smiled slightly. She didn't think she would need much protecting if something bad was to happen. However, she accepted The Boulder's kindness and nodded.

Jie slept in a room different from her old one that night. She had enough nightmares haunting her sleep, and she did not feel the need to add another by remembering the horror of being a captive of her own father.


	2. Fire Flower

**A/N: I'm kind of excited for this story. I think I have a plan. It'll be about as short as Feng Jie the Wind Spirit, but I'll make a third, if it's successful. Like, it'll be a trilogy! Yay! Anyways, just to tell you in advance, I'm no good at writing about dreams. As you'll find out, I pretty much failed at symbolism in my softmore Pre-AP English class. :P **

Jie slept fitfully that night, even more so than usual. While Jie had been a tortured spirit in a desert cave, there had been no need for sleep, and once the curse had been lifted, she had actually been looking forward to dreams. How wrong she had been… each night was filled with a nightmare. In one she was back in the Eastern Air Temple, two hundred years ago, and she was trapped in her room once more, and this time Bi Shen, the king spirit, didn't appear, and the walls just became closer and closer.

In another she was back in her cave in the desert. She was trapped there too, and all of the paintings of dragons and spirits and birds came to life and swooped down on her, threatening to hurt her, all the while they all screamed "No hope! No hope!"

Her latest dream was of Zuko. It started out wonderful. She found Zuko in Ba Sing Sei, and he promised to stay with her for forever. Then he would turn away and laugh, an evil, cackling laugh, and the world would erupt into flames.

None of these nightmares came to her that night. Instead, she dreamed of things she had never seen before, and they frightened her.

Everything was upside down. She was at the Eastern Air Temple, and all of the buildings were upside down. She rushed outside, feeling a sense of vertigo as she looked at the ceilings of the buildings… below her. She stood outside on a large stone courtyard, looking this way and that in confusion. Suddenly, she saw a fountain, one that she did not remember being a part of the Eastern Temple. Time seemed to slow as she approached it, watching the water fall peacefully from a hidden stream high above.

At the fountain, she was surprised to see two flowers growing nearby. One was a brilliant shade of an orange red, and Jie couldn't help but think of fire when she looked at it. The other flower was extremely strange. It had four petals, and each was very curious. One was yellow and wispy. A second petal was a brilliant sapphire blue and was dripping water. A third was brown and stiff, looking a lot like the earth below it. The final was just as red as the flower next to it, and emanated a strange heat.

Jie bent down to look closer at the flower, and she heard herself whisper one word.

"Avatar."

A wall of realization hit her, and the dream started to fade, letting her mind sink into shadows once more.

* * *

Jie woke with a start. Light shined through the single window in the room. She groaned as she sat up, feeling the pain in her back from sleeping on a stone floor. She pushed one hand against the small of her back and reveled in the feeling of pain. There had been so such thing as a wind spirit. Now, as a human…

That dream! What on earth was it about? Jie pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to remember it all. Why had the temple been upside down? It was as if the whole world had been turned over.

Jie stood and reached her hands to the ceiling, stretching mightily. The air was cool and fresh in comparison to yesterday's summer heat, and Jie reveled in it. She leaned out of the window and inhaled, breathing deeply.

"Ahh…" she sighed, closing her eyes again. She would have stayed there for an unknown amount of time, if her stomach hadn't snarled at her. Only then did Jie feel the emptiness of her stomach. She grimaced, recalling that the last time she had eaten had been in the morning the day before.

Softly she padded out into the hall, and peered into her old bedroom next door. It was very different, and the moss and dust that had collected gave her immense sadness. The wall that she had broken through had been patched up, and there were no furnishings in the room. The one similarity that remained was the windowless walls, and they made her shudder. She could still remember bloodying her fists against them, pounding and pleading for an escape.

"Good morning, girl!" Jie jumped as the Boulder sidled into the room. He obviously felt a bit better from the night before. Jie turned back to the doorway and gave him a thin smile. The man obviously wasn't bright, but he meant well.

"Good morning, Boulder. Do you have food?" Jie folded her arms and looked at him curiously. She was never one to tip-toe around a point, and usually that meant the manners didn't exist.

"Well, yeah, actually. I caught a jackalope this morning. It's cooking outside."

Without another word Jie slid past the Boulder and left the room, following her well-trained nose outside to a small courtyard, where a fire was going. On a spit were pieces of meat, which were previously a whole jackalope. The smell was almost too much to bear, and a guttural growl bubbled out of Jie's throat as she felt an immense greed. She practically flew to the fire, and had to resist seizing the meat right out from over the flames. The Boulder joined her, and laughed at her eagerness to eat. He sat down and poked the fire, stirring sparks into the air. Jie licked her lips as the meat fizzled and spat.

"I heard you dreaming fitfully last night, girl," the Boulder grunted after a moment of awkward silence. Jie shrugged, never taking her eyes away from the food.

"I had a strange dream," she quipped. She didn't feel like elaborating.

"What was upside down?" the Boulder continued, using a small knife to slice a piece of meat onto a large flat stone that he had fashioned. "You were talking in your sleep."

He handed it to Jie, who quickly scooped it up and took a large bite. It was hard to not change into a wind spirit. Its beastly body was calling her, and she wanted to use her sharp teeth to tear into the meat. She refrained, however, snarling quietly.

"Everything. The buildings," she managed to mutter through a mouth full of tender jackalope. She moaned in sinful pleasure, wiggling her toes happily as she filled her stomach.

"You mean like that painting?" the large man asked as he sliced off a piece of meat for himself. He paused to point the knife towards a wall. Jie turned her head, and swallowed abruptly, inhaling in surprise.

It was a faded mural of pieces of all the air temples. Naturally, the Eastern Air Temple, with its bold architecture, was on the far right, in the east, and the Northern Air Temple was on the top, in the north. What had her shocked, however, was the Western Air Temple. She had completely forgotten.

All of the buildings had been built on the underside of a cliff. Upside down.

Her primal hunger forgotten, Jie rose to her feet and dashed to the mural. This was where her dream had taken place! But… she had never been to the Western Air Temple. How could she have known what it looked like?

"Do you… do you know how to get there?" she asked quietly, turning to the Boulder. He shrugged and chuckled.

"Head west, of course," he said with a grin. Jie frowned, but accepted the jibe.

"Alright, fine. Um… which way is west then?" she asked, stretching her legs and arms. Now that she had rested, she was starting to get excited to fly again.

"You've got to be kidding," the Boulder said, entirely surprised that this strange girl actually wanted to leave for the Western Air Temple because of the dream. And she was just going to go west.

"I'm not. Look, you can help me, or I can go find someone else to ask." Jie folded her arms, tapping her bare foot anxiously. She was wasting daylight. If that four-colored flower symbolized the Avatar… and the red flower? She didn't even dare hope.

The Boulder folded his arms too, peering at the girl suspiciously.

"Fine. The best you can do is head straight west until you reach Ba Sing Sei, then slightly north. And west is that way," and with that he pointed. "But I'm coming with you."

Jie almost cackled, but shook her head. There was no way she was carrying this oaf on her back.

"I'll be okay, trust me." She could already feel the welcoming spasms of her body changing shape. They were painful, but deliciously so.

The Boulder, seeing her strange expression, rose to his feet and took a step towards her.

"I don't want you going off alone, it's dangerous. I won't let you."

Jie felt her anger swell, and she hissed, backing up a step.

"I'll be fine! Leave me alone!" The man grabbed her arm, and that was it. Jie snarled and jerked away, but he wouldn't let go. It was too much. Jie's guttural anger shook through her body, and an inhuman throaty snarl ripped through her mouth, whipping past two rows of teeth that were growing sharper.

It was then the Boulder decided to let go, completely stunned by what this girl was doing. Before his very eyes her body shifted and elongated, until she was a long, snaking dragon-beast. She shook her head, letting her golden mane fall slightly over her eyes. That long muzzle opened to reveal needle-like teeth, and then a roar shook the temple. Jie delighted in her fury and in her power. The last time she had been at the Eastern Air Temple, she had barely understood this raw power. And now…

She turned to stare at the Boulder. He was obviously very frightened. Jie felt a sliver of remorse for frightening the poor man like that. She lifted her head and tried to give a toothy grin with her tongue hanging outside of her mouth, and she pranced slightly, but the man only whimpered and shrank away. Huh. Probably too much teeth. Jie frowned again, looked in the direction that the man had previously pointed, and then took off, feeling a rush as she slid into the air, leaving her previous home behind.

* * *

Jie traveled for two days, flying for hours, and sleeping for only an hour or two before starting again. She was tired, and starving, but she was excited to actually get to the Western Air Temple, and possibly meet the Avatar. What was worse, though, was that while flying the grief she had suppressed earlier surfaced. She had tried to forget about the airbenders, but the truth was tearing a whole in her. She was the last of her kind. There was no one left in the world that could bend air, except the Avatar. But did he count?

Jie growled against the rushing wind, feeling like crying. But that was a human thing to do, and the last thing she wanted to do right now, thousands of feet in the air, was be human. She howled her grief to the sky and the birds and the clouds, but didn't shed a tear.

Jie was close to giving up on finding the damned temple, when she saw a huge cliff loom in front of her. An eerie mist clung to its depths, and all she saw was the drop. Jie descended and landed on the edge of the cliff. She looked forward, trying to find the other side of the cliff, but the fog covered it all. Then she heard the voices. Every muscle in Jie's lithe form froze as she listened. There were definitely people down there. Jie tilted her head downward, trying to get a glance, but she still couldn't see anything. The only way she would be able to see who was down there would be to fly down there. Jie listened again, and she found that all of the voices sounded young. No war-hardened soldiers or assassins down there. But at the same time, she didn't here Zuko's voice…

Jie growled, but leaped into the air, spinning around, then downward. Large buildings, all of which were built so that the ceilings were facing downward, met her gaze. Jie was delighted that she found it.

She found a stone courtyard, with a fountain just like the one in her dream! With a gust of wind she landed, clicking her claws against the rock. She didn't see anyone at first, but then she heard a yell, and it sounded like a young girl.

"What the hell was that?!" Jie turned in the direction of the voice and snorted, shaking her mane impatiently. She didn't have to wait long, however. Out of the shadows came a young girl dressed in what used to be noble earth kingdom garb, and her dark hair tied up into a bun. What was strangest was that she was blind, her eyes a milky white.

"Katara… you better see this…" the girl yelled back into the shadows. Another girl approached, this one dressed in blue. Her skin was dark and her face was riddled with a strange amount of shock.

"What… what is that?" she yelled, crouching into a fighting stance. Jie cocked her head to the side and took a step closer, barking out in greeting. Was this girl the Avatar?

"Stay back!" the girl named Katara yelled, and out of nowhere water whipped out and into Jie's face. Jie snarled ferociously, feeling a stinging pain against her maw.

**A/N: Bum bum bum… cliff hanger! I don't do those often enough. Firstly, a cookie to anyone who can tell me some of the names of the Avatar creatures. I couldn't think of anything that I could see as a hunt-able creature. Though, the jackalope sounds like it could be right out of ATLA, doesn't it? Oh, and a funny thing: All that stuff about savory, yummy meat… I'm a vegetarian. It was hard writing all that stuff. How'd I do? Haha, hope you enjoyed**


	3. Tied to a Spirit

a/n: Bahahahahaha, update! It's been so long. I'm terrible at this. For those subscribed to this story, I used to be the Blue Man Groupie. Changed my name. Anyways, ta da! It's a long one, too! I actually decided to cut it short

Jie felt insulted. Why were they attacking? Did she really look that ferocious? Had her small bark in greeting really frightened them that much? They didn't know what beastly looked like!

For a second Jie felt the rage bubble inside her as the waterbending girl slapped her with more water. But if this was the Avatar, or at the very least, one of the Avatar's friends, they wouldn't be too fond of her if she killed the girl.

"Toph, help me out!" the blue-eyed girl yelled, forming icicles at her fingertips. Jie snarled and backed off as the shards of ice hissed through the air towards her, and only one made its mark, making Jie roar in pain. It didn't penetrate her thick scales, however.

"Katara, I don't know about this. Whatever it is, it's sending off weird vibrations," Toph stated as she stomped the ground, making a large boulder pop out of the earth and into her fist. The creature certainly frightened her. Its roar had nearly deafened her, and it clacked against the earth in a strange and dangerous way. However, it hadn't done anything to harm them yet. Katara must be in a bad mood to rush to conclusions about it.

Jie herself was extremely irritated, and her tail lashed back and forth. Not only was this stupid waterbender giving her grief, but she couldn't attack back, and to top it all off, she couldn't summon the will to change into a human and end this peacefully!

She knew it was getting harder and harder to change, but now she couldn't remember feeling human at all! How was she supposed to talk to the Avatar if she couldn't get her long, fat tongue around her stupid spirit teeth?! Jie could only hope that she wasn't stuck like this.

Jie was about to fly off after the waterbender had thrown another volley of icicles at her, when a groggy voice slipped out from inside the temple.

"Katara, what the hell is going on out—"

Jie cocked her head to the side to gaze a young man that stepped out into the courtyard. He looked a little like the waterbender, with his strange dark skin and brown hair.

"Uh… Katara… what is that?" The young man kept his distance, pointing right at Jie. She growled, but didn't move. The girl Katara shook her head, lowering her water-encased hands for a moment.

"I'm not sure, Sokka. But it's dangerous," she growled. Jie growled too, narrowing her eyes as she stared daggers at Katara.

"Now now, we don't know that," Sokka said happily, taking a few steps towards Jie. She didn't move, and didn't dare even make a sound, for fear it would be taken the wrong way, again.

"What made you so wise, Oh Great Snoozles?" Toph asked, never releasing the boulder in her hand. Jie snickered, turning her head to the side. It came out as a wheezy hiss.

"Well, it hasn't taken a step towards hurting you, has it?" Sokka inquired, moving closer to Jie slowly. He had to be about ten feet away from her.

"Well… no, but still, just look at it!" Katara was stead-fast in her opinion, and Jie was still a menace.

"Oh, I bet you're not so mean, huh, fella?" Sokka soothed, creeping closer. Jie fumed inwardly at being called a "fella", but nodded her head in agreement and took one step closer, lowering her head respectfully.

"Look! Look! It understood me!" Sokka said happily, and closed the gap between him and the wind spirit. He reached out a hand, and gently patted her between the horns. Jie had to use all of her willpower not to utter a moan of sinful pleasure. What was she, a dog or a wind spirit?

Katara and Toph stood shocked as Sokka made friends with the fifteen foot long beast that had soared into the Western Sir Temple. He smiled and stroked her neck, and she closed her eyes, feeling pleased by the soothing pets.

"See, he's just a big softy. No harm here at all."

Jie snarled and shook her head.

"Oh, sorry. She's just a big softy."

Jie nodded and sneezed. Finally someone was getting it right!

Katara finally seemed to relax, straightening from a crouch. However, she folded her arms and glared at her brother, obviously displeased by his actions. Toph, however, ran to stand by Sokka, placing one hand on the creature's neck. The vibrations that rang out with each of the wind spirit's grunts and hums were astounding.

"This is the strangest thing I've ever felt," Toph acknowledged eventually, pulling her hand away. Jie was confused about the girl's actions, but didn't dare move for fear of looking too frightening.

Sokka took a step back, looking into the dragon-beast's eyes. They were so strange, a piercing emerald but strangely human. He turned to his sister.

"Maybe we can ask her yes and no questions. Can we?" The last question was directed towards Jie, and she was quick to nod in response. Anything to keep that wretched waterbending girl from attacking again.

Katara huffed and stood beside her brother.

"Fine. Are you a dragon?" Jie huffed and shook her head. Those creatures had nothing against her. Her head snapped towards the right, hearing the sound of wheels approaching. She was surprised to see two more figures, one who was in a wheeled cart.

"What is that?!" cried the one who was walking on his feet. Jie narrowed her eyes, glaring at the stranger.

"We're trying to figure that out, Haru," Katara said, giving a brief smile towards the man. "Where's everyone else?"

"Hunting and scouting the area. Teo and I decided to stay here and explore the temple more." Haru came closer, standing near the small group that had accumulated. Jie sniffed and looked away from him.

"Where'd Aang go? He probably wants to see this," asked the one named Teo. Who was Aang? All of these new names were confusing Jie, but she listened intently, hoping to learn what this group was here for.

"He's out training with Zuko," was all Katara said in reply. But it was enough. Jie gasped, but it slipped out of her teeth as a rasp. She leaped into the air with elation, and her claws clacked against the stone. He was here! Her dream had been right!

The group backed up quickly, shocked by the beast's flailing and strange roars.

"Are you looking for Zuko?" yelled Sokka over her cries. Jie nodded enthusiastically, barking happily. She stilled her writhing body, trembling with anticipation.

Toph ignored Jie's outburst and continued interrogating her.

"If you're not a dragon… then… are you a spirit?"

Jie paused here. She was… sort of. But her human side wouldn't agree. In response, Jie cocked her head to the side and tried to shrug. Failing, she nodded, then quickly shook her head.

"What'd she say?" Toph asked, unable to see.

"I think… that was a yes and a no. Right?" Sokka turned to Jie again. She nodded.

"Well, that's about as clear as mud," grumbled Katara. Jie ignored her. Two more people were approaching.

"Hey guys! Who's the spirit?" A small, bald kid approached, practically prancing. However, it wasn't the lightness of his foot that convinced Jie, it was his tattoos. The Avatar! And he was an airbender! Jie dipped her head and lowered her front legs into a bow. To the humans, it looked elegant, but she felt clumsy. Why couldn't she change into a human, and end this? But she couldn't feel it, as she kneeled before the Avatar. She couldn't feel the warm sun that had peaked through the fog on her scales, and she couldn't imagine the taste of a mango or the feeling of a kiss. Those human feelings wouldn't come to her. Then she smelled something on the breeze, something eerily familiar. She straightened from the bow, ignoring the puzzled Avatar in front of her.

There, at the edge of the courtyard. He really was here. His hair was longer, his… demeanor stranger, but it was Zuko. Jie was afraid to blink, for fear of this beautiful vision to disappear. He looked… confused, and almost afraid.

She couldn't really contain herself. With a happy roar, Jie leaped at Zuko, pinning him to the ground. She ignored the cries of alarm from all around her as she stood over him. He tried to push her off, but her front claws were closed over his arms, not hurting him, but keeping him on the ground. Jie grinned and inhaled. He smelled the same. A warm, heady, sweet scent, like a fine wine, that clouded her thoughts with joy.

Zuko wasn't happy, though. In fact, he was furious. He struggled against this beast's grip, but to no avail. He heard it snuffling and felt its hot breath against his neck.

Jie heard the group yelling and approaching. Could they think that she was harming Zuko? Jie opened her mouth to explain, but she had forgotten that her spirit tongue couldn't form words, and she sighed in frustration.

_Come on… think human…_Jie thought to herself, closing her eyes and concentrating. She drew a horrific blank. Zuko continued to struggle against her grip, and he was starting to curse. Heat was flooding up Jie's arms, but she didn't release him, for fear of never gripping him again.

A tiny corner of Jie's mind reeled in anguish, however, because it was grounded in reality, and saw the fear that came with unfamiliarity in Zuko's eyes.

Ignoring the cries and the struggling of her captured Zuko beneath her, Jie closed her eyes and tried to remember only a month ago. It had been so soon, but Jie had been so human then, and she was so monstrous now, it was impossible to remember. Jie opened her eyes and stared down at Zuko, and he stopped struggling.

There was something in its eyes that ate at his mind, and it only frustrated him that he couldn't remember. The beast looked like it could bite his head off, with its mouth lolled open and its great green eyes staring down at him. It was… crying?

Jie did remember something then. It wasn't happy, but the grief tugged at her in such a fashion she could feel tears start to fall, and the anguish of a broken heart melted her hardened features.

She felt soft, weak, and the scales fell away. She could feel herself grow smaller, more vulnerable. And to the astonished eyes of everyone around her, Jie melted into a human girl, not even able to wrap her hands around Zuko's arms. He pushed her off immediately, bewildered over her change, and her tears.

Jie had remembered how they had been forced to part, their last kiss, and his blank, confused eyes when she appeared today. The sorrow that had ripped through her had been so human she couldn't hold her spirit shape.

She now lay a heartbroken and timid girl, thrown off of Zuko roughly as he hastened to his feet and stood above her.

"Who the hell are you?!" he yelled, tempted to kick her still form in anger. Flames licked at his fists.


End file.
